It seems impossible to avoid getting calls from telemarketers. My phone number is on the do not call list. I don’t give out my phone number to any business that really doesn’t need it, yet I still end up getting between five and seven calls from telemarketers every night. My wife and I usually screen any calls from unknown or toll free numbers, because if the caller has legitimate business with us they will leave a message. Tonight was a little different though, I answered one of the calls. Well, I picked up the phone anyway, but I let them listen to my son. He was screaming at having been awakened by the phone ringing. I don’t know how long the telemarketer waited before hanging up, but I hope it was long enough to think about how rude their job really is. I like to think of it as a grass roots effort to drive the telemarketers out of business. If I can convince enough of the telemarketers to quit their jobs it’ll drive up the salaries and cut into the profit margins of the companies engaged in such practices.
That’s my dream anyway.
I like to banter with them about the weather and where they are calling me from. basically wasting their time when they could be making a sale. But, I bet if I could come up with some sounds that would be pretty rude also… toilets flushing comes to mind..
I had a gentleman with an accent that hinted that he might not be calling from the U.S. tell me his name was Frank and he was calling from California. So I asked him what time it was in California right now. He told me that it was 7:30 EST. Yes, but California isn’t in the Eastern time zone is it. I responded, “Either tell me what the time is in California or be honest with me about where you are calling from.” He confessed that he was calling from India. Then I asked, “Okay Frank, since we now know that you are willing to lie for your employer, I’d be willing to bet that Frank isn’t your real name is it?” He hung up.